Seven humpback whales and one SUPER DOOPER friendly one!

Fans clap as a humpback whale spyhops right next to the Condor Express today.

Twas yet another north Channel day full of little hot spots with dolphins and seabirds and a total of 7 humpback whales. As we moved around the area most of the whales were either traveling or feeding below the surface. We had great looks at these big cetaceans as they did their “thang.” The dolphins were also either feeding actively on the surface or passively visiting the Condor Express with some dolphin-dolphin interaction and a few very tiny juveniles riding alongside their mothers. All was mellow and relaxing on a day with partly cloudy skies and very blue water. That was the story until we met “the beast.”

The last of the 7 humpback whale was “the beast.” It was one of the most friendly whales we’ve seen all year. It surfaced right next to the boat several times, then swam back and forth under the both…driving the whale watchers crazy as they racked up their daily aerobic points hustling from one side of the boat to keep up with this whale’s antics. At one point it came to the surface tail first. It spy hopped a few times and waved its pectoral flipper once too. This magical interaction went on for over a half hour and left us all with our mouths open and lower jaw dropped….gasping for air.

There was also a nice medium sized ocean sunfish (Mola mola) on the way out to see the whales this morning.